Dirty Work

A parish priest under the pump, a band on the make, a celebrity chef on the lam, a family of dedicated recyclers hard at it, a put-upon author with an axe to grind, a disappointed developer on the prowl, a pastor with a new take on an old theme, a lawyer on the job, an elderly aunt off with the fairies, a PA with unfortunate connections and a miracle or two thrown into the mix. And the youngest detective in South Australian police history on their collective tails. And that's just the humans. There's even more DIRTY WORK going on right under their noses, although they're too busy just getting by to notice. DIRTY WORK is hard-boiled detective parody. A parable in four parts, dishing out the facts of life, shithouse though most of them may be. Like it or lump it. Whatever you happen to be.

Detective-Sergeant Eddie Martin, nursing a cappuccino, is getting the lowdown on this Brett Sody character from the squad's number one detective, Pete Young, who's nursing an organic chai latte with almond milk, extra turmeric and extra ginger. As usual, the lad's been thorough. He takes a big sip of the chai and gets his notebook out. DS: 'So, Pete. This bloke, Brett Sody, what's the story with him? What'd you find out?' Det. PETE: 'Righto; B.S. was born in St. Kilda, Melbourne, 1958' DS: 'A Vic?' Det. PETE: 'Family moved to Adelaide when he was 14. Been here ever since' DS: 'Got a record?' Det. PETE: 'Put out a few back in the nineties as a member of 'The Love Mussels' DS: 'Police record, Pete' Det. PETE: 'Zip' DS. 'Right, so he's one of these muso types' Det. PETE: 'Played in a lot of bands' DS: 'What's he do for a crust, this Sody character?' Det. PETE: 'Got his own recording studio' DS. 'That a fact? What's it called?' Det. PETE: 'SodyPop' DS: 'Isn't that an Asian soft drink?' Det. PETE: 'He had the name first' DS: 'Anything else?' Det. PETE: 'Won Most Outstanding Studio Engineer at the 2000 S.A. Music Industry Awards' DS: 'Yeah, okay, big deal. What else?' Det. PETE: 'Inducted, 2016, into the South Australian Music Hall of Fame' DS: 'What for, Pete?' Det. PETE: 'Twenty-five years of unquestionable musical excellence' DS: 'Okay, not bad; that it? What about writing?' Det. PETE: 'Wrote, produced and m.d.'d 'A Journey Through the Past' DS: 'Bullshit, that's Neil Young, everybody knows that' Det. PETE: 'Not the Neil Young album, this was a stage play with music' DS: 'Never heard of it' Det. PETE: 'Based on the book 'Neil and Me' by Scott Young' DS: 'Oh yeah, how'd it go?' Det. PETE: 'Not bad, put on four sell out shows 2012 & 2013, Adelaide Fringe' DS. 'That it now?' Det. PETE: 'Wrote the screenplay for 'Home', an eighteen minute short film' DS: 'I'm beside myself' Det. PETE: 'Won an Award of Excellence at the 2014t Canada International Film Festival' DS: 'Big deal. So what's he done since?' Det. PETE: 'Been working on his debut novel' DS: 'Oh Jesus, not another wannabe writer' Det. PETE: 'Afraid so, yeah, yet another one' DS: 'Tragic. All right then, go on, what's the book called?' Det. PETE: 'Dirty Work' DS: 'Dirty Work? You in it?' Det. PETE: 'Among others' DS: 'How's he going with it?' Det. PETE: 'Done' DS: 'What's it about?' Det. PETE: 'Shall I read you his spiel?' DS: 'Go on, humour me' Det. PETE: 'A satire about the struggle to get by, whatever you might be' DS: 'Spare me. A spoof is it?' Det. PETE: 'Sort of. He's working on the follow-up as we speak. Dead-set keen he is' DS: ' What's he calling that, Pete? More Dirty Work ?' Det. PETE: 'Bang on, Chief' DS: 'So Pete, what's your take on this Brett Sody bloke?' Det. PETE: 'I say we leave him alone, see what he comes up with. Just keep an eye out for now' DS: 'Good plan, Pete. He got a website?' Det. PETE: 'www.brettsody.com' DS: 'Keep me posted, Pete' Det. PETE: 'You got it'